User blog:Sassmaster15/Rating Atlantic Hurricane Seasons by Decade
Hello HHW! I'm Sassy, and today I'm grading each Atlantic hurricane season with respect to the decade it occurred in. We will start with the 1980s, and finish with the 2010s. With no further ado, let's begin! 1980s * 1988 - One awesome season; features the most intense Atlantic hurricane at the time, amidst two other very cool majors. * 1989 - Another fairly good season; features a long-lived and intense Category 5, as well as a fishspinner C4 and few other hurricanes. * 1985 - A good season, featuring an above-average number of hurricanes and major hurricanes, with up to six making landfall in the United States. Definitely not bad. * 1980 - Overall, not bad, but that is mainly due to Allen, the second-strongest Atlantic hurricane of its time. Overall, the number of named storms remained near-average and there was only one other major. * 1981 - Slightly above average, featuring decent amounts of hurricanes as well as majors. Definitely satisfactory overall. * 1984 - An above-average season featuring a decent number of storms, as well as a December hurricane! However, most of the storms were overall weak, which is why the season ranks here. * 1987 - Really not too much to say about this season, except that it was below average and with only one major. * 1982 - For the same reasons as above, except it ranks lower because it featured even less storms than 1987. * 1983 - The least active of the decade, with only FOUR storms total. However, what saved this season from being ranked last is that it had a major hurricane which also made landfall at major hurricane intensity. * 1986 - Terrible. Featured no majors and only six storms. Not a good season at all. 1990s * 1995 - Truly amazing. Ranked as the second-most active of its time as well as remaining tied for the third-most active today. A true definition of both quality and quantity. * 1998 - Another awesome, above-average season. Features a Category 5, as well as plenty of other awesome storms and several hurricane landfalls. * 1999 - Like 1998, this season stood out with FIVE incredible Category 4 hurricanes, two of which nearly reached Category 5 status. Despite starting late, this season truly redeemed itself and is not bad in the slightest. * 1996 - Another great season subsequently following a hyperactive one, featuring the most major hurricanes at the time - a total of six with three Category 4s. However, there were no Category 5s. Nevertheless, this season delivered with quality storms - and there were several of them. * 1990 - An above-average season with 8 hurricanes, however, it had only ONE major - a Category 3. Not bad, but not excellent, either. * 1991 - Not bad of a season overall, but features below average activity with four hurricanes and two majors. Once again, not bad, but not great, either. * 1992 - Definitely saved, but also sugar-coated by, Hurricane Andrew, an intense and destructive Category 5 hurricane. Primarily all of this season's attributes go back to that storm. To reiterate, a single storm does NOT make a season excellent. * 1997 - Did okay under one of the strongest El Niños on record. Features below average activity, with only one major that was nearly a Category 4. Mediocre at best. * 1993 - A "meh" season with eight named storms, four hurricanes, and one major that nearly landfalled in North Carolina. Like 1997, in all its similarities, is mediocre at best. However, this season is ranked lower because its major was not as intense as the one in 1997. * 1994 - Another below-average season with no majors and only three hurricanes. Definitely a bad season, which is why it ranks here. 2000s * 2005 - Why SHOULDN'T this be Number One? Is the most active on record, featuring a jaw dropping number of storms, hurricanes, and majors - including FOUR incredible C5s, including the strongest on record! Despite causing tons of destruction (I'm looking at YOU, Hurricane Katrina), the sheer activity and intensity of the season makes it deserving of this title. * 2004 - Another quality season with six majors, including a Category 5 and a number of intense landfalls. Generally very destructive, as well as late starting, it compensated for that with record numbers of storms in both August and September, in addition to a December storm. * 2003 - Above-average, featuring a number of unusual occurrences, including Category 2 Hurricane Juan making landfall in Nova Scotia and producing gusts exceeding Category 4 force, as well as Major Hurricane Fabian striking Bermuda. Also includes a Category 5 hurricane as well as a storm in April and two December storms. Definitely a great season. * 2008 - Costly, deadly, and active - featuring an amazing number of Category 4 hurricanes - four. In addition, the season broke records for its continued intense activity from July through November as well as number of major hurricane landfalls. As demonstrated by Hurricane Hanna, a storm does not need to be intense to be destructive. However, Hurricane Gustav fell just short of Category 5 status. Nonetheless, it was an excellent season. * 2001 - An active, above-average season featuring four major hurricanes - two of which made landfall at peak intensity as Category 4 hurricanes. While nothing interesting happened until September, the season dramatically picked up thereafter and remained that way until its end. Definitely a good season overall. * 2007 - Definitely saved, and sugar-coated by, Hurricanes Dean and Felix, both of which were intense Caribbean Category 5 hurricanes. However, aside from those two, no storms exceeded Category 1 intensity. While not bad with Dean and Felix, should those two be removed, the ACE value crashes to something even worse than 2013, which is the least active season of the modern era. Nevertheless, overall a good season, featuring both pre- and post-season activity. * 2000 - A decent season overall, featuring above-average activity in all categories - storms, hurricanes, and majors. While starting off bad, it redeemed itself with a bang in August with Major Hurricane Alberto - one of the longest-lived storms on record. In addition, features a major hurricane landfall and several other interesting cyclones. * 2002 - Decent for an El Niño, including a record-tying number of storms forming in September. However, the season remained largely dormant otherwise as nearly all activity was confined to September. * 2006 - An inactive season following the best on record. Features only two majors, neither of which exceeded Category 3 intensity. Not good at all. * 2009 - The least active of the decade with only nine named storms. Nothing much to say about it except that it was what you would expect from an El Niño. 2010s * 2010 - A definition of a quality season, featuring four incredible Category 4 hurricanes, one of which was snubbed of Category 5 status. A fifth major also attained said status in the Bay of Campeche, and is the only storm on record to do so. Also featured numerous unusual occurrences, such as the strongest June hurricane on record as well as the easternmost major hurricane on record. Was the third-most active on record at nineteen named storms, the season also had its ups and downs - such as Matthew and Gaston failing to attain hurricane status and Tomas turning northward and thus being robbed of major hurricane status. Nevertheless, a truly excellent season. * 2016 - The most active Atlantic hurricane season in years, has managed to achieve above-average activity - including the first official Category 5 hurricane in nine years, as well as ending record lulls in other areas - such as the Florida hurricane landfall drought, as well as a major hurricane striking Bermuda for the first time since 2003. * 2011 - Made a startling comeback after the first eight storms failed to attain hurricane status. Features four incredible majors as well as an incredible Gulf of Mexico tropical storm. At nineteen storms, there was nothing really disappointing about this season. * 2012 - Despite tying for third-most active on record and producing ten hurricanes, this season failed to produce more than two majors - both of which were weak Category 3 hurricanes as well as no storms in the month of November. However, it did feature some neat instances, such as two pre-season tropical cyclones, the largest Atlantic hurricane on record, the fourth longest-lived Atlantic hurricane on record as well as several storms near the Azores. * 2015 - Another decent season for an El Niño that produced a near Category 5-strength hurricane as well as the first Cape Verde hurricane landfall in over a century. However, had numerous fails and was still a satisfactory season at best. * 2014 - The least active hurricane season of the 21st Century in terms of named storms, with a total of 8, this season is definitely below-average. However, it did manage to produce a good number of hurricanes - six - as well as the first Category 4 hurricane since 2011. * 2013 - An absolute fail and disgrace to the Atlantic. Only TWO hurricanes out of 14 storms were able to attain hurricane status, and neither exceeded Category 1 intensity. Just horrid. Category:Blog posts